Intercommunication system for bowling alleys



Sept. 4, 1956 M. GOLDSTEIN INTERCOMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR BOWLING ALLEYS Filed July 29, 1953 4 Sheefs-Sheet 2 or xeyai Sept. 4, 1956 M. L. GOLDSTEIN INTERCOMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR BOWLING ALLEYS Filed July 29, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INTERCOMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR BOWLING ALLEYS I Filed July 29, 1953 Sept. 4, 1956 M. L. sows-ram 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 6 M u z e wow x m NM N n n M V w n W M m m6 MM g b||| WNW fi MIN: Im NW b I l 1 l I I l I l I l ll M D Nb fllllll].

United States Patent" INTERCOIVIMUNICATION SYSTEM -FOR- BOWLING ALLEYS Maurice L. Goldstein, Chicago, Ill.

Application July 29, 1953, Serial No.- 370,920

1 Claim. (Cl. 179-2) This invention relates to bowling alleys and particularly to the improvement of acoustic conditions therein.

It is usual in bowling halls to provide a bowling counter, in supervisory relation to the various alleys.

loud talking or shouting went on from time to time, between bowlers and pin boys or pit attendants. larger bowling halls, with numerous alleys in simlll taneous operation, this resulted in great noise and confusion. This unsatisfactory condition progressed in direct proportion to the size of a bowling establishment, thereby imposing definite limits upon the growth of such establishment.

Automatic pin-setting devices were tried in order to remedy such conditions.- However, they, in turn, have definite limitations and'shortcomings. In smaller communities,-it is hard to find qualified mechanics and main= ten'ance men for the highly specialized, electronic ap;

paratus required to spot, memorize and re-set individual standing pins; Even with the best service and "maintenance, an automatic pin-setter can perform only stand-' ard operations, and even that only withsomedirect or in-.

direet'supervision and aid'by' machine mechanics and front attendants. I

I have invented a bowling alley arrangement capable of combining the quiet and dignity 'of well-constructed and well maintained'automatic set-up with the versatility and simplicity of'a manual set-up. Thisnew"arrange-. merit operates with equal efliciency regardless of "size and' capacity: flexible than it was in the past.

In this new'system direct intercommnnicationi between clerk; either of whom" thereby becomes" a' supervisory operator, receiving messages from the" pit an'd from any of thebowlers bays and relaying-proper"messages;in" suitableforrn; to" the bays-and the pit'. The supervisor" can also 'originatecalls "to either endbfany of the alleys:

On'th'e other'hand, he can'only-be'spokemw 'from one't of these points 'at' any one time; and" only: when he, the

supervisor, has suitably connected his instrument with such point: Visible and/or audible call signals-caddie sent from these several points" tothe' master 'instrument; and said instrument canstore and retain" any number of" such call signals, simultaneously; while positively allow in'g'only one' singletalk-lis'ten' connection; to onesingle' calling point, at 'anyionetim'e. I

By this multiple signaling, single communicating ar-' In spite. of such provision it was unavoidable, heretofore, that In the It. makes the bowling hall construction more All messages"are"routed i rangement, greatly improved conditions have been established in .bowling alleys; conditions which are better than those heretofore existing either in conventional manualsetting or automatic-setting alleys; also better than anything obtainable with conventional intercommunication systems ofotherwise comparable type.

The operation is expedited by certain particular, features of the master instrument and comprehensive a1- rangement; particularly, a novel arrangement of call signal elements and call control elements for two ends of each alley in close proximity to one another, on an open selector and indicator board.

The detailsin this and other respects will be understood more clearly upon a study of the full disclosure of a preferred embodiment, to be. described hereinafter. It will be understood that a number of specific details are provided in this preferred embodiment which can be modified without leaving the gist and scope of this invention, to be defined by the claim appended at the end of this description.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic assembly view of the major units utilized in the present invention.

Figure 2is a plan view of a bowling establishment utilizing the present invention.

Figure 3 is a cross section through the establishment of Figure 2, along lines 33.

Figure 4 is a'similar cross section, along lines 44.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of the system of Figure 1, more detailed electrically but more diagrammatic mechanically.

Figure 6 is another fragmentary view of the same system, still. more detailed electrically and still more schematic mechanically- Figure 7 is a fragmentary view generally similar to Figure 6 but showing another part of the system; and

Figure 8 is still. another similar view, completing the diagrammatic representation of the electric system.

Referring firstto Figure l: The manual bowling establishment as-shown-cornprises a plurality of alleys ill, 12,,

13", 14, 15, 16. At the pin end A of each alley the bowling pins are provided. The other end B of each alley is equipped with theusual bay. A pit P extends along and partly below the ends A to provide operating room. for the. pin boys who replace therproper bowling pins according to well-known rules.

Each alley is interconnected with a master control instn1ment..17 which has two principal parts: An amplifier and control unit 18 and an alley and station selector unit 19 Conductors, generally shown at 2%, are provided to separately interconnect each end of each alley-with the selector unit 19, for signalling and communication by and through the amplifier and control unit 18.

For this purpose the conductors 20 connect the master instrument 17 with. a series of voice pick-up and speaker units21, 22, 23, 24,,25, 26, also comprising push-button signal switches ancLthereby formingwoutlying stations, at the bay. ends. of the respective alleys 11 to 16; and with similar. outlying. stations 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, provided at other ends-A of the different alleys, within the pit P (Fig.2);

The voice pick-up and speaker openings of both groups of instruments 21, 31, etc., face in the same direction, that is, in the direction from the bay B to the pin end A. They are so adjusted as to be operable within their respective, limited. bay or pitv areas, forming. only parts of the alley.. For instance, a bay speaker and pickup unit 21 is loud enough to be heard distinctly in and adjacent the respective bay but not in the pit, and sensitive enough to pick-up ordinary talk from adjacent the bay but not from the pit. it will be realized that the picking up of messages from a bowler or pin boy, by a pick-up instrument relaying the message to the master instrument, requires only a much lower voice level than does the direct communication between the two ends of a relatively long bowling alley. This is so not only because of the lesser average distance between the speaking person and the direct speech receiver, but also because of the fact that, by interposition of the suitably arranged master instrument, suitable amplification can be applied, with proper individual adjustment for the bowlers bay and the pit and with further general adjustment depending upon the overall condition of the bowling establishment and the noise level therein.

Referring now to Figure 2, it will be noted that the conductors 20 comprise two cables 20A and 2013 extending respectively along the pit ends A and bay ends B of the series of bowling alleys 11, etc. Both cables converge to the instrument 17. This instrument is shown as standing on the counter 27 provided in the usual supervisory locationr37. As noted above, it could also be located elsewhere, even remotely of the alleys.

Of course, the same platform which conventionally provides for the counter 27 can also be used to provide for a general entrance 38, an otfice 39,a checkroom 40, a ball room 41, shops, restaurants, and the like; such rooms, as shown, may be disposed around the long and narrow sides of the alleys 11, 12, etc., along with the area 37. The possibility of locating the instrument 17 anywhere makes the construction of the bowling hall or establishment more flexible and potentially more income producing. I

Otherwise this present bowlers hall can be built as usual. For instance, the usual stands 42 for spectators and/or waiting bowlers can be provided adjacent the bay ends B of the alleys 11, etc.

The ceiling 43 of the building is desirably equipped with a sound deadening construction, such as a reflecting arch 44, it being unnecessary and undesirable in accordance herewith to provide acoustic interconnection between the ends A, B of the bowling alleys.

Referring now toFigure The selector instrument 19 contains a pair of call indicator or signal light assemblies 51, 61 for the alley 11 and a similar pair 52, 62 :or 53, 63, etc., for each other alley 12, 13, etc. It will be noted that the call indicator light assemblies of each pair 51, 61, etc., are closely juxtaposed; as shown, superposed above one another. The series 51, 52, etc., is provided for the bay ends B of the difierent alleys, while the series 61, 62, etc., is provided for the pin ends A of the different alleys.

Closely adjacent each call indicator light assembly the instrument 19 has a lever handle 71, 81, etc., forming 1 part of a manual multiple selector switch, whereby the correlated switch handles 71, 81, etc., for the two ends of each alley are justaposed similarly to the respective light stations.

Thus the front of the master instrument 17 effectively reproduces the alleys on a small scale. For instance, station 21 is represented by a signal unit 51 and switch handle 71, etc.

In the drawing, the instrument portion 91 relating to the alley 11 is shown in some detail, whereas the other similar portions 92, 93, 94, 95 and 96, belonging to the other alleys 12 to 16 respectively, are shown only in general outline. Those parts visible in front of the instrument are most clearly shown in Figure 1, while Figure 5 also shows the major electric interconnections of the different instruments 51, 61, 71 and 81.

As schematically shown in Figure 5, the master con,- trol unit 18 controls each outlying instrument 21, 31, etc., through a corresponding switch 71, 81, etc., with the further aid of a relay switch 101, 111, etc., thereby also controlling the respective call indicator light stations 51, 61, etc. Connection between each outlying station 21, etc., and the corresponding switch and indicator,

4 units 71, 101, 51 is shown as being made through a suit" able set of conductors; three such conductors being shewm and used in the present instance and being interconnected with the respective instrument portion 91, etc., by suitable connectors 121, 131, etc.

Referring now to Figures 6 to 8, it will be noted that each outlying station 21, etc., has the usual voice pick-up and speaker cone, voice coil andperrnanent magnet, together with a single pole signal push button switch. It will further be noted that these coils and switch elements of each station 21, etc., are connected with the corresponding unit 91, etc. in the master instrument, through a three-terminal connector 121, etc.

Figure 7 shows only one of these instrument units 91, and that only so far as necessary to indicate the connections to and from one outlying station 21. Any desired number of instrument units 91, 92, etc., with a. pair of indicator lights and a pair of selector switches: each, can be provided; the number of such units being: equal with the number of bowling alleys to be served by the system. Additional units similar to the unit 91'. (or in some cases not arranged in pairs), may be pro-- vided, of. course, in outlying stations 28, 29, 36, etc., in: such locations as the office 37 (Fig. 2), pin boys quarters- Q (Fig. 3), etc. All units 91, etc., have multiple connections, parallel with one another, with a series of bus wires between the control and selector portions 18, 19; these bus wires being identified by numerals 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 respectively.

Details of these interconnections will best be described in conjunction with the operation of the system, which is as follows:

Normally all call switches of the outlying stations are open and all call indicator lights on the master instrument are de-energized and dark. This condition is shown in the drawing.

Referring now to Figures 6, 7 and 8, and assuming that a bowler in alley 11 momentarily closes the signal switch of the outlying station 21, this establishes a momentary electric circuit from the terminal 1 of a source of direct current SD through conductor C25, the uppermost pole of the manual switch 71, conductor C1, connector 121, conductor C2, the signal switch in 21, conductor C3, connector 121, conductor C4, the coil of the signal relay 101 and conductor C5 to a second and grounded terminal 1 6 of the source'SD. This energizes the coil of the signal relay 101, thereby closing the three normally open switches of this relay. The lowermost switch establishes selfholding or locking circuit for the relay through the conductor C25, upper pole of switch 71, conductors C1, C6, relay coil conductor C5, so that the relay switches remain closed even after the reopening of the momentary call switch in the station 21.

Visible and audible signals are established through the signal relay 101 as follows, upon the energization of the relay which has just been described. A source of alternating current SA has a terminal 9 connected by conductor C7 with the uppermost switch in the signal relay 101 and further connected, in the closed condition of this relay, by a further conductor C8 with one terminal of a red incandescent lamp R in the signal light unit 51. The other terminal of the lamp, by conductor C9, is connected with the opposite terminal 7 of the source SA. Thus the closing of the switches of relay 101 results in lighting up of one of the red signal lights in the front panel of the master instrument 17; this particular signal light forming. part of the instrument unit 91 connected with the alley 11. The attendant can now see that a bowler in that alley wishes to talk with him. The attendant is also alertedto the call'by an audible signal, caused by a buzzer B in the master instrument. For this purpose the terminal 7 of the source of alternating current SA'is connected with one terminal of the buzzer while the other terminal of the buzzer through a bus 5' assigns middle switch in the signal relay? 101 snid -switch when closed, making connectioir to cdnducfifiGH andnher by}. through the conductor C7, to theotherterniinal 9"05 the source of alternating. currentSAe 'Inthismanner, when any one of the red signal lamps i eiiergized,-=this also actuates the common buzzer'B; whileavoidi'rlg' feed backs between signal and lamp units In order to establish atalk-listfir wane outlying station 21, the attendant must nb "r' e-the manual switch 71 directly ahowfthe li-"glited s'i'giia'l light 51R.

In the condition established by" opiation';--thevoice coil of the outlying statiGn ZF as e sbnrceer current at audio frequency;- one t r'ml 62 areas coil is connected, through the c'ohhec'thr'l eofi'dtlctef C1 and further conductor cl'z'to the th'ii' manual switch 71 (eonnting fr to a conductor C13 Connecting A bus has a branch C14contaihihg' conventional ctin denser and leading to one of th tiiv6"n6 'lly'clo'sed terminals of a double pole; double' th wt'zn sens-we n TL. Through said switch" te'filihal afid its normall closed pole, further connection i A oifdiitbr' C15 leading to the primary coil of pu ti former IT. The other side of this primafy' 'coil- 1s''c"oni1ected with' the grounded bus 6.

Audio frequency currents, indiiced'iii'"the"s"econdary coil of the input transformerIT are fdthidugh an input volume control rheostat IR (the control knob ofiwhich is also shown in Figure 1) to the of a' firstamplifier triode T-1. The plate voltage of this triode is impressed in the usual manner upon the grid of a second amplifier triode T-2, and the plate voltage of that tube is impressed in the usual manner upon the control grid of a final amplifier tube shown as a pentode T-3. The plate current of that tube feeds the primary coil of an output transformer OT, the secondary coil of which is connected, by a conductor C16 and the normally closed terminal of the second pole of the talk-listen switch TL and conductor C17, with an adjustable output volume control rheostat OR (the control knob of which is also shown in Figure 1). This rheostat by a conductor C18 feeds the earphone E of the master control telephone instrument T, the other terminal of which is grounded at 6. Thus the attendant can now hear what the bowler in alley 11 speaks into the cone of his instrument 21.

In order to establish a connection whereby the attendant can answer the bowler in alley 21, a manual talk switch TS is provided in the telephone instrument T of the master station (the handle of which is also shown in Figure 1). When the attendant depresses the handle of this switch and thereby closes the switch, this energizes the coil of the talk-listen relay TL through the terminal 1 of the source of direct current SD, the branch conductor C19, the relay coil, the conductor C20, the switch TS, and the grounded wire 6. This reverses the poles of the talk-listen relay TL, thereby breaking the connection for talk from the outlying station, previously established as explained, and establishing instead a connection wherein the upper pole of the talk-listen relay switch TL connects one terminal of a small microphone battery MB through the conductor C15 with the input transformer; the other side of the battery MB being connected with the microphone M and thereby with the ground 6. The output transformer now is connected through the conductor C16 and the lower pole of the talk-listen relay switch TL with the bus wire 3; and this bus, by means of the aforementioned connections C13, 71, C12, C1, C2 leads to the voice coil of the use with-the outlying instrument 21. This coil now acts as a load.

u'ie'auey 11- and particularly to-thebay 21, he can listen to talk from said bay when he releases thetalk switch TS tion has been established between the master instrument and the outlying, calling station 21, as described, is desirably evidenced at the master instrument itself in order to avoid confusion as to whether and where a connection has been made. For this purpose additional poles areprovided in the manual switch 71'. The aforementioned uppermost pole of that switch has been reversed together with the two lowermost poles. Since the connection for the energization' of the red signal light R51 and the buzzer B'hadbeer'i made through this' up'per m'bst'pole, these instruments" are now deenergized; the r'edlightisout andthe' buzier is silent on the other hand ers termiiial of the source of alternating current SA iscenneeted by aconductor C23 with a second pole of themanual switch 71 (counting from the top as always) and th'r'bug'h' said pole and a conductor C24 to one-"terminal of a green indicator lamp G in the light station 51-. The other terminal of that lamp is interco'fine'cted With the second terminal of the red lamp R which, as desi'zrib'ed before, is connected by conductor C9 with the second terniih'a'l 7 of the source of alternating current SA. Thnstlie' establishment of the proper talklisten'connectioh is indicated by the" disappearance of the red signal light and the appearance of the green indicator light directly below the same, identifying the signalling station, and the establishment of talk-listen connection with it.

Furthermore, it will be noted that the uppermost pole of the manual switch 71 has double-throw connections. In the lowered condition established during the talk-listen connection, this pole connects the direct current terminal 1 through a conductor C25 with a conductor C26 leading to bus 4. This bus leads to a B-voltage relay BR, the other terminal of which is grounded to 6 and which now closes a relay switch BRS interconnecting the center tap of a second direct current source coil SD2 with the grounded wire 6. This second source of direct current SD2 comprises a rectifier tube interconnected with the amplifier tubes T1, T2 and T3 so as to insure proper voltage conditions for talk. The details of such interconnections are known to the art and need not be described herein.

It will now be seen that a complete cycle of intercomrnunicating operation, for instance from 21 to 31, is effected by simple and rapid electric steps, with great efficiency from the standpoint of bowling alley management.

For instance, assume that a bowler in the bay of alley 11 wants to have the pin boy set the pins in some special manner. For this purpose the bowler himself or anybody in his party can signal the attendant by momentarily depressing his signal switch 21. The attendant can immediately see the proper red light R51. Practically at once he can reverse the corresponding manual switch 71, take the telephone receiver T, press the talk-switch lever TS and acknowledge the signal through the microphone M, inter-mediate amplifier and circuits as described, and speaker 21. All this can be done in about a second. As soon as the attendant releases the talk-switch lever TS the bowler can tell him, at ordinary low voice level, what to tell the pin boy. This the attendant can do promptly by returning switch 71 to normal condition while turning the directly subjacent switch 81 (see Figure 4) to talk-listen position. In this new position, with both lights of the calling unit 51 being off and the green light of the receiving unit 61 Other examples of how the systemcan' be utilized wills occur to persons skilled in the bowling art. In every instance, necessary and proper messages are indirectly but easily relayed from the bay to the pit and vice versa. Direct messages between these points, which tend to become improper at times in the excitement of the game, are safely eliminated. Visual supervision from a bowling center is no longer necessary, although it remains possible.

A number of modifications can be applied in manners which will be found to be obvious upon a study of this disclosure.

I claim: 7

An intercommunication system for bowling alleys, comprising a plurality of paired outlying sub-stations, each pair consisting of an alley bay sub-station and an alley pit sub-station; each one of said substations including a signal switch and a voice receiver-transmitter; a central control station comprising juxtaposed pairs of signal relay switches, manually operable multiple selector switches, signal annunciators and acknowledgment annunciators; each of said juxtaposed pairs consisting of alley bay sub-station switches and annunciators and alley pit sub-station switches and annunciators; all the alley bay sub-stations switches and annunciators being linearly arranged in a first line; all the alley pit substation switches and annunciators being linearly arranged in a second line parallel to said first line and in corresponding sequential position thereto so that the sub-station switches and annunciators associated with each bowling alley are in the same relative position at the central control stationas afe'the alley bay and alley pit substationsion a bowlingualley, whereby a master control panel 'isfobtained'at the central control station which represents a miniaturized replicatof the. physical arrangement, of the bowling alleys; the master control panel also including a central-voice receiver-transmitter, an amplifier, a manually operable talkswitch, a talk-listen-relay normally positioned to transmit audio frequency signals fromthe-amplifier -to the central voice receiver, a manually operated talk switch adapted to position the talklisten relay to transmit audio frequency signals from the central voice transmitter to theamplifier; each sub-station signal switch being connected to actuate its respective signal relay switch, the latter being connectedto simulta-, neously actuate its associated signal annunciator, the

, manually operable multiplej selector switch associated ,betweenthe central station'and: any of the sub-stations.

. References Cited in the file of this patent v UNITED STATES PATENTS- 1, s41,771 wane Jan. 19, 1932 2,549,676 I Dunnet-al. Apr. 17,- 1951 

